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Reporting for students who achieve below curriculum expectations

How we report for students who are not meeting curriculum expectations provides the real test of the quality of reports. These students are the ones who are likely to be fragile about their sense of themselves as learners, and about their ability to fully engage in learning. How we report about their progress and achievement can have a marked effect on their future success.

Below are examples of comments for a student who is not meeting curriculum expectations.

A graph showing David's progress is not included here. Schools will use their judgment about including a graph for students not meeting curriculum expectations, keeping in mind Principle 5 on the enhancement of student, parent and whānau motivation. (Link to the Reporting Principles here.)

Teacher Comment On Achievement In Reading

Summary

David has learnt to work out most words as he is reading, and to recall and discuss texts at orange level. He can monitor and self correct his reading at this level but not when the texts get harder. David and I are working together to bring him up to the expected level for his year, which is the next text level, turquoise. David’s efforts are being supported by four hours of small group tutoring in reading each week with a focus on strategies to help him read Turquoise texts.

With this support, and yours at home, we expect David to be successful at gold level by the end of year 3 (the expected level for his year).

Annotation

Comment starts positively with what David has learnt to do.

The report is clear David is working below curriculum level, and by how much. It doesn’t use the word ‘below ’. The teacher shows she shares the responsibility for lifting David’s achievement level. The additional tutoring is described as supportive of his efforts. The language reflects shared responsibility. The gaps in his learning are described, along with a specific strategy to close those gaps.

Next learning steps in reading

David and I will concentrate on using his knowledge about the sounds letters make to solve unfamiliar words, and work out the meaning of more complex words quickly, so that he can more easily grasp the meaning of what he reads. We have decided his best way to do this is through looking for common patterns in unknown words and re-reading the text to gather more information. We will be checking David’s progress regularly to ensure he maintains this progress.

What you can do at home

David could build on his skills by reading aloud regularly at home, and talking to you about what he is reading. Reading more complex stories to him will help him to grow the number of words he understands, as well as his understanding of how sentences are put together. Encourage his questions and talk about the books you share. We want David to understand and think deeply about the ideas in the books he reads, not just about the words. Making this fun will help him keep enjoying reading.

The language is positive, e.g. “build on his skills”. Advice for parents is clear and in plain language.

Teacher Comment On Achievement In Writing

Summary

David can write to recount events. He uses basic planning to organise his ideas. He is learning to turn his ideas into connected sentences. He is also learning to edit his writing for spelling errors. His writing does not yet meet the expected curriculum level, but he and I are working together to help him improve.

Annotation

The language reflects shared responsibility. A specific remedy is described to close the gaps.

Next learning steps in writing

To help David improve his writing, David and I will be concentrating on adding detail to make his writing clearer for the reader. We will also be focusing on skills in proofreading for meaning and accuracy.

What you can do at home

Reading to and with David at home will also help develop his writing skills. Encourage writing at home for lots of reasons e.g. shopping lists and emails. Get him to re-read his writing to check the intended meaning. Keep these activities fun – he will learn best if he is not pressured.

David has made very good progress in mathematics this year. At the beginning of the year he could only solve problems by counting, now he is able to use the basic facts he knows and split up numbers and recombine them to solve problems. His understanding of hundreds, tens and ones has improved and he now knows most of the addition facts up to 10+10. David is very good at estimating and measuring things accurately. Even though David is not yet at the expected curriculum level for his age, he needs to be congratulated on the huge improvement he has made this year.

Annotation

Comment is positive; detailing the things David has learnt and can do. The report is clear David is working below curriculum level, but the “not yet” allows for expectations of progress.

Next learning steps in mathematics and statistics

David and I will continue to focus on using the basic facts he knows to solve problems. He should use counting to solve problems less and less. Understanding when to use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to solve a problem is another important learning step. David and I will continue to work hard on this as it will help David progress faster once he has grasped the idea.

Annotation

The language reflects shared responsibility. A specific remedy is described.

Additional help at school/help at home

The extra help David is receiving at school will continue next term. Thank you for encouraging David to complete all his homework and play the mathematical games we send home. This is one of the reasons David is making such good progress. Talking with David about how people use measurement in building and cooking would be helpful.

You can find more ideas about how you can support David at home as well as information about the achievement expected for his age on the school website: www.school.school.nz

Annotation

Advice for parents is clear and in plain language. It shows that a conversation between the teacher and David’s parents has occurred, and this report is just one part of the ongoing conversation about David’s learning.